Canning & Food Preservation

Edit: Here’s the recipe. I couldn’t find a recipe that didn’t use already-made dill pickles, so I combined several recipes instead. I used the National Center for Home Food Preservation’s vinegar solution ratios for sweet pickles to make sure the pH was safe. Then I used a combo of spices from a sweet dill recipe and a sweet horseradish recipe.

My dill plants didn’t do well this year, so I used dried. It’s important to note, I’ve never made this recipe before and since I just canned yesterday I don’t know yet whether it’s good.

Makes 4-5 pint jars

• 4 lbs cucumbers
• 1.5 cups apple cider vinegar
• 1 cup white vinegar
• 3.25 cups granulated sugar
• 0.25 cup canning salt
• In each clean, sterilized jar add:
• 0.75 tsp mustard seed
• 1 Tbsp dill weed
• 1.5 tsp prepared horseradish Cut off a little of the blossom end. Slice and put in hot vinegar solution. When cucumbers are heated through, pack in jars. Add vinegar solution, leaving a 1/2” headspace. Water bath can for 10 minutes.

Had to use up some kitchen leftovers today. Super pleased with how it turned out!

In the making:

Strawberry honey butter! My first attempt at this recipe from the Ball canning website. It's delicious, think it'll go great on waffles and ice cream! It's a bit runny, but that's fine!

Made the yearly candied jalapeños! Well, half of them as the place I get the jalapeños from only barely had 4lbs, let alone 8lbs.

From the bones of a couple Costco rotisserie chickens and veggie scraps saved in the freezer. Only boiled the bones for a couple hours, so didn't get as much gelatin out of them as I'd like, but it was getting late. I also thought I had more pint jars, had to put the last bit of stock into a couple quart jars in the fridge.

Is it possible to mix jar sizes when canning? Assuming you process them all using timing for the larger jar size?

[Image description: five pint jars of opaque tan broth, still slightly bubbling as they cool on a towel on a kitchen counter. In the background a stock pot and an All American 910 can be seen.]

A batch of ginger & citrus marmalade I made today, plus some ginger tea as a byproduct!

I canned a few cups of apples this fall. Now that I pull the apples out for some baking, i find that my apples are just barely more firm than applesauce.

Does anyone have any tips on keeping apples firm after canning?

Wrote 23 on three jars before realizing.

Is there any motivation techniques. We did soooo many gherkins last year. I find myself actively leaving the gherkins out of meals. Even though I used to buy them from shops and have them everyday.

I have 5 or 6 large jars in the pantry but I just can't seem to get through them. Was it the process that put me off. Hundreds of cucumbers to wash slice and then can.

Pictured is stewed tomato, salsa, spaghet sauce, tomato juice, marinara, ketchup, pickles, cranberries, gooseberry jam and ancient peaches from years gone. All sourced from a pretty modest sized garden. Not shown is sauerkraut and frozen corn

My last batch was from two years ago, so I need to get on it and make more! Hopefully the 20lbs for 15 dollars is still a deal at the roadside stand where I get the apples!

Candied jalapeños from last year! Great with crackers and cream cheese

Attempting to can apples for the first time and I am pretty confident that I filled the can up to the 1/2" point before the headspace starts. But after I pulled them out of the canner I have a good 1" of only liquid that the apples are floating on.

Did I do something wrong?

Is there a good way to really pack apples into the can before they go into the canner to avoid this wasted space?

Week by week, my dragon's hoard grows (there are another 6 quart jars of canned peaches not in the picture)

Just apples, pumpkin, peanut butter and some spices... this was a fun afternoon project, and they turned out delicious!

So I'm interested in grinding up some fruits (strawberries or whatever) and just throwing them in a jar and preserving them. Basically I want to make a jam without pectin or sugar. How terrible of an idea is this?

Been wanting an All American for ages, and keeping an eye on local ads finally paid off! Thinking of getting back some precious freezer space and starting off by canning some stock.

[Image description: a brand-new looking All American canner 910 sitting on a kitchen counter]

(Humble brag intro)

Today I was able to score used All American 921 and 910 canners for $35 picked up! The canners were sold but the niece of the original owner with no known history.

In doing my research, my understanding is that this brand is built solid! That said, does anyone have experience giving an all American canner a tune up?

My general approach:

1. Inspect for any structural issues
2. Take everything apart and clean it
3. Clean and buff the body with a scouring pad (not steel wool)
4. Replace the safety blow plug

Is there anything else you’d recommend?

TIA!

My cold room. Bottom shelf is dehydrated food, the rest is pickled food and jams.

So many jams...

Too many jams...

Hi all, has anyone experienced this? I was just canning chicken broth in my pressure canner, and the overpressure plug blew out, releasing all the pressure. I lost a good 25% of my broth.

I had previously removed the plug to use the canner as a water bath, so maybe I didn't have it in right. Or maybe the pressure was too high. The presto manual says to not use the canner until I call them (not open until tomorrow). The plug doesn't appear damaged at all.

I was wondering if anyone's been through this? Did you have to replace the plug? Should I assume the lids are no longer suitable for sealing?

Hi all. Does anyone in the community have a good beginners guide? I'd like to learn how to do this and don't have a great resource.

alt text: in the foreground a rack of lamb ribs perches golden brown on a grate above an outdoor fire. Smoke dances in the middle ground, partially obscuring a tenant farmer's cottage seen in behind.

Definitely not recent, but I figured I could help get some content going. So here is my jam shelf from the Covid times. Jam making is a hobby of mine in the summer and I went a little wild with flavors that year since there wasn't anything else to do and I could send them to people.

Top shelf from left to right: Lemon Curd, Port Plum, Apricot, Strawberry Zinfandel, Peach Bourbon, Verry Berry, Peach, (small jar) apple butter from the year before, (large jar) Chili sauce, raspberry.

On the bottom shelf are various garnishes for cocktails that I didn't really can so much, but I thought I would list for those curious. (If you like cocktails, join us over on [email protected]). From left to right of what I can see: Smoked Salt, Cinnamon Sticks, Whole Nutmeg, Dried Lime Wheels, Candied Ginger, Tea Pot.

Not pictured: That years apple butter batch! I always make a massive batch of apple butter when my parents apples ripen. It often makes about 20 jars!

Didn't see any other channels on canning and food preservation, so I made one.